Matryoshka
by jcarter920
Summary: Tensions are running high with the 5-0 team due to an unforeseen crime spike in their beautiful paradise. Will the long hours bring the team closer together or will this be the end of the 5-0 task force? Steve/OC, Danny/Kono


"Matryoshka"

Chapter 1:

Sweat rolled down his cheeks, and dripped off his chin. His eyes stung from sleep deprivation. The stench of rotting flesh gives his stomach quite a turn. He looked around at his comrades in battle, the people he trusts with his life, his Ohana. He sees the stress defined in every aspect of their faces. Hell, Steve knew it was probably written all over his face. He has been trained to overcome stress, to never show weakness, but the crime spike that has taken place over the past month has really pushed him to his limits. It's pushed every member of 5-0 to their limits. He's worried that this might be the breaking point for his team.

He re-focuses on the task at hand, the four women who had been brutally slaughtered and left on the docks, naked and splayed out for the world to see. It was the most horrific crime scene his task force had seen since they were created by the late Governor Jameson. They were mid-way through processing the scene and waiting for some leads to start the investigation. Danny was closely inspecting the docks. Chin was trying to drag up some witnesses. Kono was doing what she does best, meticulous crime scene work.

He sees her, slowly standing up from where she was crouched investigating the bodies. The stress shows worse in her face as she has not become as proficient at hiding her emotions as the rest of the team has over the years.

"Kono, what you got?" He says with a hint of hopefulness whether than actual belief it will be something to go on.

"Not much, Boss. There are no latent prints on the bodies, but maybe Max will find something I missed back at the lab. Any prints on the scene cannot be pinned down to our perps. The Oahu Port is one of the most high traffic ports in the world. Thousands of bodies are going through here on any given day."

Steve rubs his hands across his brows, wiping off the sweat. He had already thought of that. He had been holding on to hope that by some miracle there was a bloody handprint on one of the bodies. Why couldn't criminals just leave a note? It would only be polite.

"I thought so."

Kono notices this is the first time she's really seen stress show on Steve's face. Frankly, it puts her on edge.

"I'm gonna go help Danny process the rest of the scene."

"What about you, Chin? Please tell me you have something." Steve is starting to feel desperate. This is not an emotion that can normally be attributed to him, but the long days and sleepless nights are taking a toll.

"Sorry, boss. I have talked to everyone who worked the night shift last night. No one's talking. They all say they saw nothing. I'm going to go get the security tapes and head back to the office. Hopefully, there'll be a lead somewhere in those tapes."

"Great, thanks man. See you back at home base." Steve sees Max arrive at the scene to collect the bodies. He immediately heads over to greet him.

"Hey, Max. This is going to be a rough one."

"How many bodies? Max says clinically.

"Four females. Mutilated beyond belief. Guts spilled out for all to see. Max, we really need a miracle on this one."

"I'll do my best." He says as he's already started to load the bodies into the van to transport back to the lab.

Steve's thoughts are interrupted by the sound of ringing. It rings three times before he realizes that it's his cell phone. He looks at the screen: Gov. Demming. Great, this could mean nothing good.

* * *

><p>Danny stands up slowly, his old ACL injury is not appreciating the lengthy bending over to look for anything that might stick out at this crime scene. He sighs deeply, and avoids looking in the general direction of the bodies. It's hard to focus on the technical work when all you can see is dead women.<p>

This case is a bad one. It's the type of case that you could spend hours obsessing over. It's the type of case that is definitely going to mean he won't be going to that new pizza place with Grace.

Danny is pulled out of his thoughts, when out of the corner of his eye, he notices beautiful black hair blowing in the air as Kono is walking towards him.

"Hey, crime scene queen, did you get anything? Please say yes."

It's a testament to how serious Kono is feeling that she doesn't even respond to his crime scene queen comment. She is always game to banter with him.

"I wish. Unless, Max sees something I missed… We got nothing. What about you?"

"Other than a throbbing knee? No. These guys are good." He sees her flinch at his word choice and finally notices just how her normally beautiful face looks pale and her normally cheerful eyes look so sad.

"These guys are monsters. I don't know how people could do this to another human being." She spits it out with the most venom I have ever heard spew out of her mouth.

"You know I didn't literally mean _good_, Kono. What's going on?"

Kono sighs and says, "I'm just tired, Danny. Guess these long hours are getting to me."

Danny knows she's not telling him the whole story. But, now is not the time and this is not the place to approach her. So, he nods and then continues to look over the scene. He looks over at Kono and she's busy looking around some crates.

As he's busy looking at Kono, he notices something red to the side of the crates.

"Hey, Kono. What is that by that one crate? That red thing." Danny starts to walk over towards her.

Kono reaches down and picks up a painted figure. Kono looks familiar with it, but to Danny it's pretty much meaningless.

"So, what is it?"

"It's a type of Russian doll. I used to have one. I'm more concerned of why it's here on the docks."

Steve hangs up the phone with the governor. Frustration is definitely setting in. This is the fourth meeting the governor has requested this week. The increased crime has made life hard enough. He doesn't need the added stress of being told what to do, where to be, and what to say.

"Steve, we might have something." Danny calls him over to the area by the dumpsters.

"What's up, Danno?" Steve says this trying to make the situation as normal as possible.

"I'm gonna let that one slide since I am too excited about having a possible lead. I had been searching through the area and had nothing. Absolutely nothing. I was about to give up when Kono came over to help and we saw something that did not fit. Kono, you must be my good luck charm."

Steve interjected before it could turn into back and forth that Danny and Kono have been famous for lately.

"What'd you guys find?"

"It's a Russian doll." Danny started before abruptly stopping. "Actually, Kono might be able to explain it better."

"It's called a matryoshka. It's a Russian nesting doll. I had one when I was little girl. You can open the doll and inside our progressively smaller dolls. It's fascinating stuff for children."

"What does this have to do with our dead girls?" Steve says not really seeing the connection.

"Well, everything at this scene is a mess. Yet, the doll is in pristine condition, just laying here in the midst of all this chaos. It might be nothing, but really we have nothing else to go on." Danny says and Steve notices his look of desperation mirrored in Danny's face.

"Ok, good find, guys. Hopefully, we can make sense of it once we ID the victims."

He looks over where Max has finished loading up the bodies and is climbing into the van to head back to the lab.

"Well, I have to go meet with the Governor. Chin already headed back to the office. You guys head back whenever you finish processing all of the evidence. Wait to hear from Max about our victims."

"Sure thing, boss." Kono says and is immediately focused back on searching the scene.

Danny however has latched on to his mention of meeting the governor and looked up at him.

"What's going on, Steve? Another meeting?" Danny asks with concern.

"Yeah, Danno. I don't know what the deal is, but I'll try to sort it out. We'll talk later." Steve walks off before Danny can ask more questions

* * *

><p>Natalie shrugs away the red hairs falling into her eyes. She rubs her eyes that are dry from exhaustion. She worked a double shift at the hospital. The cool summer nights they have been experiencing lately have left a lot of illness floating around and preventing her co-workers from making it in for their shifts. Her bed is calling her name. She wishes she had driven to the hospital for once. She normally enjoys walks as exercise helps clear her mind and focus her thoughts. Tonight, however, she wants her bed.<p>

She turns down her road, her eyelids trying to close without her permission. The breeze from the ocean is floating through the air and into her nostrils. She sees her little beach bungalow in the distance. She suddenly wishes she lived three houses closer or even one house closer.

She walks up the short path to her door, when she notices a package sitting by the plants she has moved into the sun to try and save from a most certain death. A green thumb she does not have.

This package has taken her by surprise. Natalie hates surprises. The only people she has regular contact with are her mother and brother. They would never leave an anonymous package on her doorstep. Her social life is pretty limited. The only people she'd consider friends are a couple of co-workers and a couple of friends from her kickboxing class. None of them seem a likely candidate as the sender of this package.

She picks up the package, unlocks her front door, and steps into her house. She sets her bag down on the kitchen table. The curiosity of what's inside the package wins out over her desperate need for sleep. She opens it up slowly, just in case it's a bomb. Slowly is always better right. She picks up the note first.

The note reads: "_To my little Matryoshka, my little Russian doll,"_ the handwriting all too familiar.

Natalie feels like she can't breathe, her airway feels too small. This cannot be happening. He cannot have sent this. She composes herself enough to she wants inside the package. Sitting in beautiful ruby red wrapping is a beautiful Russian nesting doll. She grabs the package and note and throws them in her trash. It's probably just a mistake by the post office. She's sure it's not meant for her. It just can't be.

* * *

><p>Danny and Kono walk into the office carrying bags of Chinese take-out. They see Chin hard at work trying to decipher the security tapes from the docks.<p>

"Hey cuz, we brought dinner. Seems like it's gonna be a long night." Kono says as she drops the food on the table and goes to see what her cousin is working on. "Did you get anything from the tapes?"

"Yeah, the usual, black hooded figures. I cannot seem to get a face on these guys." Chin rubs his hand across his face.

"Great," Kono says with sarcasm, and storms out.

Danny starts to follow her when Chin intervenes. "Just give her a moment. She'll be alright."

Danny nods even though he wants to follow her and see she's alright with his own eyes. He doesn't know when he became so protective of her, but somewhere in the past few months they have become incredibly close. It might have something to do with the immense workload they have had lately and the 20 hour work days. Kono makes him feel lighter in a job where feelings of lightness are few and far between.

Danny sits down to eat and dials Grace's number. His ex-wife, Rachel, answers the phone.

"Hey, Rachel. Can I talk to Grace?"

"I don't know, Danny. She's pretty upset. She was looking forward to going to that pizza place. She told all her friends at school." Rachel says just piling on the guilt that Danny is already feeling.

"Rachel, you know I cannot control my hours. I'm going to make time for us to go tomorrow. Just let me talk to her so I can apologize."

"Just a minute." Not a minute later he hears his daughter's sweet voice.

"Danno?" The way she says Danno really warms his heart and brings a smile to his face.

"Hey baby. I'm sorry we could not go out to Luigi's tonight. I was really looking forward to going. Our team is working on a big case and I couldn't leave for dinner."

"It's ok, Danno. I know you try your best." She is the most understanding child a man could have.

"Tomorrow. I promise that tomorrow we will go. Even if I have to quit my job we will be going to Luigi's."

"Danno, stop being silly. You can't quit your job!"

"Why not, monkey?"

"Uncle Steve needs you. You help take care of him. Plus, you have to keep him from overworking Uncle Chin & Aunt Kono." She reasons just like an adult.

"You're so smart. How'd you get to be so smart?" He teases her.

"Mommy." Grace states laughing.

"So, we're on for some traditional pizza tomorrow night? Danny says making sure she is not upset enough to not want to go.

"Yes! Can Kono come? She told she really wants to eat there." Grace says with a pleading tone.

"I'll ask her if she would like to go. But, I gotta get back to work. I love you monkey." Danny says wishing he was leaving to actually see her.

"Love ya, Danno." Danny hangs up the phone just as Steve storms in looking angry as a hornet. Steve storms past Chin and Danny, walks into his office, and slams the door.

Danny cautiously follows him into his office.

"Hey Steve, what's going on, man?"

"The governor. He says if we don't see results on this case, then he will be sending in someone to effectively trim the waste in our team and possibly eliminate 5-0."


End file.
